Dorothy Cann Hamilton Took a Roundabout Path to Cooking Fame

Founder of International Culinary Center also hosted TV programs

The renowned chef André Soltner had some advice for Dorothy Cann Hamilton as she was preparing to open a French cooking school in New York in 1984: “Are you cuckoo? It won’t work.”

Mr. Soltner, founder of Lutèce, a celebrated French restaurant in New York that opened in 1961 and lasted 43 years, recalled learning to cook by serving a three-year apprenticeship in a restaurant. Ms. Hamilton, a New York native, stuck to her plan and offered intensive six-month courses to prepare people for cooking careers.